I’m running a skill challenge where my players have to try and close a magical portal leading to an unknown realm and I have a couple of queries that I hope people here can help me with.
Background first: it’s a planar rift that the players must seal by expending magical power somehow –for example, I let the party's Paladin make an attack roll boosted with divine smite as an attempt to severe its connection with the material plane – and my party have got 6 successes and 2 failures. The next roll will be their last, either they succeed or fail. The base DC I set was 20.
1) How would you normally rule players repeating a skill check in these scenarios? Would you just increase the DC? If yes by how much? Or would you say they have to use a different skill each time?
2) One of our party members is an eloquence bard with a +10 persuasion and they wanted to use that in combination with a spell (dissonant whispers). I thought it was pretty cool so I allowed it, but I don’t want to give them more than one automatic success, but I don’t want to unfairly penalize them just because they’re using their class abilities cleverly. How would you deal with this situation?
3) If a player tries something that would have no effect on the portal regardless of their roll, would you rule it as a failure or say nothing happens? For example, one player tried to heal the rift using cure wounds (which I ruled would work) but they were scared of touching the portal, so they tried to cast it through the ground around the portal. Should the result be nothing happens or a failure?
Skill challenges are the best! Yours sounds really cool.
1) I don't allow repeats. They have to try with a different skill. I also don't allow them to use a skill more than once per character. That way, the wizard isn't constantly acing things with arcana checks and the party isn't coasting on the barbarian's repetitious athletics checks.
2) Heh, I have a pesky eloquence bard in my campaign too. He can't roll under a 21 for persuasion, so I feel your pain. I solve part of this problem with my one-use-per-skill restriction, so the bard isn't smooth talking all my challenges away. I also have "superior success" benchmarks in all my skill challenges. If someone rolls a 25 or higher, it counts as two successes, or it creates a situational boon that gives the party a unique leg up. This allows the bard an opportunity to put his expertise on display, and has a margin of disappointment if he's just normally persuasive.
3) If he wanted to heal at a distance, there are other spells he could have used. I might rule that with a really high check, he manages to heal it some despite most of the magic grounding out. With a lower roll, I'd rule that a failure.
1) I don't allow repeats. They have to try with a different skill. I also don't allow them to use a skill more than once per character. That way, the wizard isn't constantly acing things with arcana checks and the party isn't coasting on the barbarian's repetitious athletics checks.
That makes sense thank you. I might allow them to use the same skill more than once per character - about half the party is made up of charismatic types so I'd feel I was restraining them too much - but I'd just significantly up the DC for each successive one.
2) Heh, I have a pesky eloquence bard in my campaign too. He can't roll under a 21 for persuasion, so I feel your pain. I solve part of this problem with my one-use-per-skill restriction, so the bard isn't smooth talking all my challenges away. I also have "superior success" benchmarks in all my skill challenges. If someone rolls a 25 or higher, it counts as two successes, or it creates a situational boon that gives the party a unique leg up. This allows the bard an opportunity to put his expertise on display, and has a margin of disappointment if he's just normally persuasive.
Haha, yeah I love them and hate them. Hmmm I really like that idea. Do you use it outside of skill challenges as well? If yes what sort of benefits do you offer in a basic skill challenge situation?
3) If he wanted to heal at a distance, there are other spells he could have used. I might rule that with a really high check, he manages to heal it some despite most of the magic grounding out. With a lower roll, I'd rule that a failure.
Happy brainstorming!
I think they wanted more power though I'm not sure what difference I'd make between cure wounds and healing word say - might have given them an extra +2 for trying to touch the portal. Thanks for the advice. It was quite helpful.
Hmmm I really like that idea. Do you use it outside of skill challenges as well? If yes what sort of benefits do you offer in a basic skill challenge situation?
I don't really use "superior success" outside of skill challenges, though crazy high rolls get rewarded with much cooler narration and occasionally benefits like "the mayor thanks you for your work and decides he owes you a favor" or "you don't see any monsters in the woods, but you do spot a rare flower thought to be extinct." It depends on the story beat. Also, my players are at a high enough level now that rolling 25s for things they're good at isn't really difficult. Heck, the cleric's passive insight is 22 and the wizard's passive investigation is 24, lol.
I don't really use "superior success" outside of skill challenges, though crazy high rolls get rewarded with much cooler narration and occasionally benefits like "the mayor thanks you for your work and decides he owes you a favor" or "you don't see any monsters in the woods, but you do spot a rare flower thought to be extinct." It depends on the story beat. Also, my players are at a high enough level now that rolling 25s for things they're good at isn't really difficult. Heck, the cleric's passive insight is 22 and the wizard's passive investigation is 24, lol.
Ah ok makes sense. Thank you.
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I’m running a skill challenge where my players have to try and close a magical portal leading to an unknown realm and I have a couple of queries that I hope people here can help me with.
Background first: it’s a planar rift that the players must seal by expending magical power somehow –for example, I let the party's Paladin make an attack roll boosted with divine smite as an attempt to severe its connection with the material plane – and my party have got 6 successes and 2 failures. The next roll will be their last, either they succeed or fail. The base DC I set was 20.
1) How would you normally rule players repeating a skill check in these scenarios? Would you just increase the DC? If yes by how much? Or would you say they have to use a different skill each time?
2) One of our party members is an eloquence bard with a +10 persuasion and they wanted to use that in combination with a spell (dissonant whispers). I thought it was pretty cool so I allowed it, but I don’t want to give them more than one automatic success, but I don’t want to unfairly penalize them just because they’re using their class abilities cleverly. How would you deal with this situation?
3) If a player tries something that would have no effect on the portal regardless of their roll, would you rule it as a failure or say nothing happens? For example, one player tried to heal the rift using cure wounds (which I ruled would work) but they were scared of touching the portal, so they tried to cast it through the ground around the portal. Should the result be nothing happens or a failure?
Skill challenges are the best! Yours sounds really cool.
1) I don't allow repeats. They have to try with a different skill. I also don't allow them to use a skill more than once per character. That way, the wizard isn't constantly acing things with arcana checks and the party isn't coasting on the barbarian's repetitious athletics checks.
2) Heh, I have a pesky eloquence bard in my campaign too. He can't roll under a 21 for persuasion, so I feel your pain. I solve part of this problem with my one-use-per-skill restriction, so the bard isn't smooth talking all my challenges away. I also have "superior success" benchmarks in all my skill challenges. If someone rolls a 25 or higher, it counts as two successes, or it creates a situational boon that gives the party a unique leg up. This allows the bard an opportunity to put his expertise on display, and has a margin of disappointment if he's just normally persuasive.
3) If he wanted to heal at a distance, there are other spells he could have used. I might rule that with a really high check, he manages to heal it some despite most of the magic grounding out. With a lower roll, I'd rule that a failure.
Happy brainstorming!
Thank you. I actually borrowed this from the High Rollers Podcast's campaign because I also think it's pretty cool.
That makes sense thank you. I might allow them to use the same skill more than once per character - about half the party is made up of charismatic types so I'd feel I was restraining them too much - but I'd just significantly up the DC for each successive one.
Haha, yeah I love them and hate them. Hmmm I really like that idea. Do you use it outside of skill challenges as well? If yes what sort of benefits do you offer in a basic skill challenge situation?
I think they wanted more power though I'm not sure what difference I'd make between cure wounds and healing word say - might have given them an extra +2 for trying to touch the portal. Thanks for the advice. It was quite helpful.
I don't really use "superior success" outside of skill challenges, though crazy high rolls get rewarded with much cooler narration and occasionally benefits like "the mayor thanks you for your work and decides he owes you a favor" or "you don't see any monsters in the woods, but you do spot a rare flower thought to be extinct." It depends on the story beat. Also, my players are at a high enough level now that rolling 25s for things they're good at isn't really difficult. Heck, the cleric's passive insight is 22 and the wizard's passive investigation is 24, lol.
Ah ok makes sense. Thank you.